BLOOD-PRESSURE AND HEART-RATE REACTIVITY TO MENTAL STRAIN IN ADOLESCENT JUDO ATHLETES

This exploratory investigation examined the association between maxima l aerobic power (V-O2max) and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) reactivity to mental challenge. Adolescent male judo athletes (n = 20) performed a 2-min mental arithmetic. Heart rate was recorded before, during, and after the arithmetic, and BP was recorded before and after the mental challenge. Blood pressure in the immediate stress-recovery period was not related to V-O2max, but subjects having a higher maxim al aerobic power showed faster HR recovery from mental stress than tho se having a lower V-O2max. Subjects who showed earlier peak HR respons es, during the stress episode, demonstrated lower average HR reactivit y than subjects who attained the maximal HR response later in the stre ss period. The relationship between the interval to reach peak HR resp onse and the magnitude of reactivity deserves further attention. Howev er, at present these findings should be viewed as tentative because of the uniqueness and size of the sample.